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Comment by enneff | Hacker News Reader

Yeah but then you have to live in a totally artificial environment that is a living monument to consumerism.

What are you implying here anyways? That the buildings, malls, water theme parks, etc. are artificial? Well then, I'd say most cities are artificial. Unless you want to move into a jungle. Does that count as natural?

I'm implying that the city seems to mostly cater to people whose primary leisure activity is spending money. There's no natural environment to explore there, and it's mostly culturally bereft.

a totally awesome environment that is a living monument to modern architecture

FTFY. Also, infinity pools.

For a lot of us outside USA, that sentence would describe several cities in America.

As an American living abroad, I've discovered that many American cities are actually quite nice to the synthetic alternatives. Ya, consumerism is worshiped, but as long as you are in a real city core (not the suburbs), its actually mostly quite nice compared to Dubai.

> but as long as you are in a real city core (not the suburbs), its actually mostly quite nice compared to Dubai.

In what way? (just want to know your perspective) I do prefer US cities myself (esp. NYC) way more than Dubai - mostly for the culture, people and the opportunities there. But the awesome H-1B cap and lottery doesn't help. After all, what other country conducts a freaking lottery for high-skilled worker visas?

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